The appointment of an electricity minister was always going to generate debate about Eskom’s success or failure to keep the lights on. The incumbent, Kgosientsho “Sputla” Ramokgopa, and his colourful nature have made the debate even more interesting. Sadly, it has also steered things in an unhelpful direction and obscured other important aspects to resolving SA’s energy crisis.
Since taking over Ramokgopa has been visiting Eskom’s ailing power stations. As expected, these visits have attracted much media attention, especially what he has said in public, rather than what he has told his boss, President Cyril Ramaphosa, cabinet colleagues and Eskom’s board.
Of interest has been his characterisation of the root cause of Eskom’s poor performance. He is reported to have said that Eskom’s problems are “operational” in nature and not “corruption”.
This has attracted much commentary for obvious reasons, the first and main one being that it seems in stark contrast to the framing of the problem by former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, who believed the power utility was hobbled by a combination of corruption and sabotage. As a new pair of eyes and ears, Ramokgopa’s perspective, even so early in the day, should be taken seriously as signalling where his immediate focus will be.
Though interesting and a good public relations tactic, this sidebar debate is unhelpful, and adds more confusion to an already paralysing characterisation of Eskom’s ills by two of Ramokgopa’s colleagues: mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe on the one hand, and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan on the other.
Even though they are Ramaphosa’s allies and enforcers, they do not see eye to eye on the cause of and solutions to Eskom’s problems. Mantashe believes it is an operational problem, even suggesting Eskom management under De Ruyter was using load-shedding to topple the ANC government. Gordhan has emphasised the corruption problem, including a quicker move away from coal-generated power towards renewables and other forms of low-carbon energy.
Defiant speech
At a recent energy conference Mantashe — the president’s de facto deputy in government — gave a spirited defence of coal and made clear that the transition to low-carbon energy will be determined by South Africans at their own pace. This defiant speech was delivered in front of green energy activists.
More concerning, Ramaphosa has not decisively intervened in this fight among his supporters. He kept them in their jobs during his cabinet reshuffle despite the deepening energy crisis, a move that continues to send mixed signals to players in the energy ecosystem. And with elections a year away, these differences are likely to be accentuated.
The current debate has de-emphasised the other necessary and critical steps needed to stabilise SA’s energy crisis. A few are worth highlighting here. First, Eskom is still without a permanent CEO. Ideally, Ramokgopa’s roadshow should have been jointly conducted with a new CEO so that both can confirm they are watching the same movie and, importantly, share the same diagnosis of the problem and message to the tens of thousands of Eskom employees.
Second, related to the first, is the issue of low staff morale, which translates to low productivity. Uncertainty about the future of Eskom has already cost the entity a lot of skilled professionals, a trend that will take years and a good inspirational leader to reverse.
Third, even as the deadline to decommission part of the coal fleet approaches there is no shared and credible just energy transition plan for the country, Eskom employees, their families and host communities — and, generally, SA’s exporters, who risk losing preferential market access to jurisdictions such as the EU if they continue using carbon-intensive production methods.
Fourth, all the agreed plans to resolve the energy problem are proceeding at a snail’s pace. Talking up the energy action plan, announced last July, fails to keep the lights on for longer.
And lastly, as expected, Eskom’s load-shedding has been turned into a political football. The March 20 “national shutdown” protest is the second by Julius Malema’s EFF to bash the ANC government and Eskom for their lack of strategies to end load-shedding. A few months ago the official opposition DA marched on Luthuli House on a similar grievance.
This will get worse in the coming months as opposition parties prepare for the 2024 general elections. These political protests will be joined by community protests fearing the transition to a low-carbon energy future to them will not be just.
These problems should not be allowed to fester any longer. The government, as Eskom’s sole shareholder, should just pick a CEO for Eskom. There really was no need to advertise the job in the middle of a crisis. This is a lesson from Thabo Mbeki’s administration. The longer the government dithers, the shorter the list of candidates for the job will become and the less attractive the job will be to potential candidates such as former Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko. The new CEO should co-write the new Eskom strategy instead of being expected to implement someone else’s ideas.
A consultative process with host communities, the government, financiers, coal miners and Eskom should be held to cobble together an inclusive and just energy transition plan. Speedy execution of all agreed initiatives is a key imperative to ending load-shedding. The sooner this happens, the better it will be for Eskom to be shielded from politicians.
And finally, Ramaphosa must rein in his ministers and ensure they sing from the same hymn sheet and allow the new CEO and board to run Eskom unhindered.
• Dludlu, a former Sowetan editor, is CEO of the Small Business Institute.
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